Cyrene was prosperous and had trade ties with every Greek city in what is now the modern Greek mainland and islands. It was one of the principal cities in the ancient Greek world, with its temples, tombs, agora, gymnasium and Cyrene Amphitheatre all thought to be inspired by the historic structures at Delphi. The city became a Republic in BC, following the political tradition that Athens had established. Cyrene contributed to the intellectual life of the ancient Greek world through its renowned philosophers and mathematicians.
Philosophy flourished on the Cyrenaican plateau at the School of Cyrene. Cyrene was also the birthplace of Eratosthenes, who determined the circumference of the earth. The great thinker later went to Alexandria. Statues of philosophers, poets, and The Nine Muses, and a bust of Demosthenes have been found in Cyrene, attesting to the great culture which once flourished there in Northern Africa. When Alexander the Great died in BC the Cyrenian Republic became subject to the rulers of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and a few centuries later it became part of the Roman Empire as a province.
It was transported to Rome, where it remained until , when it was returned to Libya. Look at Palmyra, Mosul…. Fly with me above a Libya u don't often see pic. See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos.
Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email! GR News. Greek News. The range drops down toward the North in a series of terrace-like elevations, thus giving to the region a great variety of climate and vegetation.
The soil is fertile. History: Cyrene was originally a Greek colony rounded by Battus in B. Because of the fertility of the soil, the great variety in climate and vegetation, together with its commercial advantages in location, the city soon rose to great wealth and importance. Greater fame, however, came to it through its distinguished citizens. It was the home of Callimachus the poet, Carneacles the founder of the New Academy at Athens, and Eratosthenes the mathematician.
To these must be added, from later times, the elegant ancient Christian writer Synesius. So important did this Greek colony become that, in little more than half a century, Amasis II of Egypt formed an alliance with Cyrene, marrying a Greek lady of noble, perhaps royal, birth Herod.
The city continued, though with much restlessness, a part of the Egyptian empire until Apion, the last of the Ptolemies, willed it to Rome. It henceforth belonged to a Roman province. In the middle of the 7th century, the conquering Saracens took possession of Cyrene, and from that time to this it has been the habitation of wandering tribes of Arabs. Biblical Importance: Cyrene comes into importance in Biblical history through the dispersion of the Jews.
By the return of the Jews of the Dispersion to the feasts at Jerusalem, Cyrenians came to have a conspicuous place in the New Testament history. Jews from Cyrene were among those present on the day of Pentecost. Their city appears as one of the important points in the wide circle of the Dispersion described by Peter in his sermon on that occasion Acts Cyrenian Jews were of sufficient importance in those days to have their name associated with a synagogue at Jerusalem Acts
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